Neo Sonic The Hedgehog Part 7: Chronos Saga
by Neo Sonic
Summary: For now, I posted an advance chapter. It has to do with Shadow's past. As soon as I go up to saga 7, I'll integrate it then. Hope you like it.


Neo Sonic The Hedgehog, Story Seven: Chronos Saga  
Chapter Unknown: Shadow's Tragic Past  
A Sonic The Hedgehog Fanfiction  
By "Neo Sonic"

"Sonic The Hedgehog" characters and all other related characters and trademarks were created by and are the property of © SONICTEAM, LTD. and © SEGA OF AMERICA. All other characters and trademarks, both appearing and mentioned, are the properties of their respective creators, authors, and/or distribution companies. I do not own the characters or the series, I simply write the fan fiction.

A/N: Felt like doing this one early on. It was on my mind all this time, and I just wanted it out. It will take a while for me to go all the way to saga 7, so simply, read. Lol.

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**SONIC MANSION  
MIDDAY**

**(KNOCK, KNOCK)**

"Come in," Sonic's voice came from within the room.

Maria entered Sonic's bedroom, amazed at its size and tidiness. She saw Sonic sitting on the loveseat in from of the bed. He had a stern look on his face. Maria knew her place; Sonic had the last word here. She nervously made her way over to him.

"Sit down," Sonic said, pointing at the sofa in front of him. Maria sat down, already feeling uneasy at the stern tone of voice Sonic had today. She looked at him, while he looked at the floor in front of him, rubbing his hands together, as if in thought. After a minute, he spoke.

"...Shadow hasn't returned."

Maria flinched at this. She had been certain Sonic would be asking about Shadow, but he said it as if he was going to use it in a scolding.

"I know--"

"You know NOTHING!" Sonic blared suddenly as he jumped off his seat, making Maria sink into the sofa. With the force of his bellow, a sudden energy counterfold whiplashed Maria, pushing the sofa backwards. She was starting to grow frightened.

"He's had nightmares every night about you. He's been wishing for you to come back. He's been suffering for days on end ever since you died back then... and all you do is get angry because he's so demonic now! Whatever happened to 'Christians don't judge'! What would have happened to you if it was the other way around? Didn't you ever care about his feelings!"

Sonic's onslaught proved effective. Maria was scared, and was doubting what she had said. But it still didn't convince Sonic.

"Damnit, Maria, you know better! He's suffered, he went through hell for you, he's died several times for you! He's even attempted suicide for you!" Sonic screamed, tears streaming down his face. "We both have a link due to our blood! I feel what he feels! And what he feels is dimension-shattering! You insensitive stuck up BRAT!"

Maria was shaking. She never knew that Sonic, Shadow's rival, who always bothered him, felt annoyed with him, was expressing such a gigantic concern for his emotional safety. But she didn't expect it to be this bad. Sonic looked like an angry lion, about to jump on her at the slightest provocation.

"What do you remember of the past?" Sonic suddenly asked, his demeanor softening a bit.

"...bits and pieces," Maria managed to say after a few moments of silence.

"Do you remember how you died?"

No response.

"There you have it," Sonic said. "Others told you that you died a martyr. That you sacrificed yourself for Shadow to live. Let me tell you something. Even if it was true, it wasn't a pretty sight. And the thing is, you didn't sacrifice yourself."

"Eh?" Maria was confused now.

"I'm taking you. You're seeing what really happened. Right now."

"...no," was Maria's simple answer. "I will not see it."

"You have no say in the matter. I promised Shadow things would be ok, and you screw them up. You are NOT leaving until you see it." With this, Sonic got up, and grabbed Maria's shoulder.

"Chaos... Control... TIME WARP!" Sonic screamed, before Maria could argue further. The command made the Chaos Control of the Chaos Emeralds create a time-space distortion, in which the Time Stones could be easily used to transport a person's consciousness into the past. The trademark green light engulfed them, and then a white, intense light.

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**SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH STATION AND SPACE COLONY 001, CODENAME: ARK  
HIGH MOBIAN ORBIT  
56 YEARS AGO**

The blinding light subsided, and Maria was able to see again. Sonic was still beside her, only, they weren't in Sonic's room anymore. They weren't even on the Earth, for that matter. She was staring at what seemed like a massive observation window. There, in the blackness of space, the majestic blue aura of the Planet Mobius dominated the view, contrasting with the millions of white sparkles around it, the stars of the Universe. She turned to gather her surroundings. They were in what it seems like an dimly lit observation lounge aboard a spacecraft. There were seats, escape pods, and a massive bulkhead which separated the room from the rest of the craft.

"We're in Observation Lab 10 of the Space Colony ARK, 56 years ago," Sonic announced.

"ARK..." muttered Maria, more of her recessed memory flowing back to her. Then, she realized the full meaning of what Sonic had said. She turned to him, her eyes wide open in shock. "56 years ago! But... that was..."

"...the time where the tragedy occurred," Sonic finished her sentence. "Don't get any ideas. I can only send our spirits back through time. We can't interact with anything, so, we can't tamper with the events that have already occurred." This had shattered Maria's immediate hope of preventing the tragedy.

"We can only watch."

Suddenly, the bulkhead opened slowly. Maria turned around, watching as the bulkhead slid upwards, revealing her former friend, an annoyed look on his face.

"Shadow..." she breathlessly muttered, as he walked past her, standing in front of the window, staring at Mobius. He was breathing calmly, but had his fists clenched.

"...the hell I am gonna be used as a lab rat today," the moody hedgehog growled, his crimson red eyes locked on the blue sphere. He had his arms crossed, a frown on his face. Maria was now standing beside him, looking at him. His eyes, his face, his looks, his attitude. It was the exact opposite of what she is, yet, she couldn't deny that she loved all that about him. "Shadow..." she whispered, looking at her friend, her love. "I... I remember this. Grandpa told me he would be here whenever he didn't want to be experimented upon. That's when I..."

As if in queue, a 14 year old girl appeared in the doorway, a gentle smile on her face. She had blonde hair, her skin was milky white, and her eyes were two blue pools of innocence. Yet, she was very wise beyond her years. She saw Shadow against the window, and she started to walk towards it. Maria recognized the girl.

"It's... ...it's me..."

14-year old Maria made her way to Shadow's side. Shadow never moved, nor twitched, yet, he knew she was there, even before he saw the reflection in the glass. He simply stared at Mobius.

"Maria, I want out of here. I want to go down there, I want to see what it's like down there!" Shadow said, his expression changing to one of excitement. He glanced to the young Maria, while the adult Maria smiled. "Come with me! I want to have this adventure with you! We can go to all those amusement parks we read so much about! And the movies! Yeah... it would be great to watch one with you..."

Young Maria giggled. "We will, Shadow, someday. I want to go too. I've always wanted to go..." With this, she took Shadow's hand in her own and squeezed reassuringly. Shadow smiled, a very rare event, considering the future Shadow's dark personality. Maria smiled back, and leaned her head on Shadow's head, being careful not to get stung by his quills. Shadow closed his eyes in contentment, as did Maria. The two remained like that for a long time, before Shadow broke the silence. "Maria... don't ever leave me..." Confused, young Maria looked at Shadow. "Whatever do you mean?" she asked. "I... I don't know what I'd do if I lost you, Maria... you're just... so dear to me... I..." Shadow said, his voice on the edge of breaking, another rarity. Maria stroked his quills. "I'll never leave you, that's a promise."

Maria was watching this, and already a knot was forming in her throat, looking at how beautiful her former self and her love looked, so happy, not a care in the world. "If I had known... that it was gonna end this way..."

"It happens, Maria. But this is just part of the story. The story starts a year ago. We must go there so you can fully remember the tale... let's go." And with that, Sonic used the Time Stones again, this time, arriving at the same room, a year ago. Maria saw that her former self and Shadow were gone.

"Let's go," said Sonic. He took Maria's hand and disappeared with her. They reappeared in what seemed like a cloning facility. Many white clothed persons were bustling about, being led by a fat man with the same distinctions as the late Dr. Eggman, except his moustache was gray, and his intentions were not of taking over the world. This was the noble Professor Gerald Robotnik, Eggman and Maria's grandfather, creator of Shadow The Hedgehog. He was in front of a computer screen, deep in work. The others walked here and there, working hard on something. In a corner of the room, Maria spotted herself, looking at the middle of the room. She followed her younger self's gaze to a glass container filled with liquid. Inside, floating, his eyes closed, was a black hedgehog. He was being given the final touches for his awakening.

"Awaken!" exclaimed Gerald, throwing his hands in the air. The workers stopped what they were doing and looked towards the center. The liquid was slowly draining from the capsule, and the hedgehog sunk to the floor, and stayed there, curled up in a ball, as the last of the liquid seeped through the small drains. The capsule opened, and Gerald made his way to the center, towards the creature's limp form. He massaged his gut, and pushed inwards, making the diaphragm throw out any liquid in his lungs. Then, it woke up for the first time in existence.

"AAAAAAGH!" he shrieked, coughing up water, and taking hungry gasps of air. He had his eyes still clenched shut, but eventually, when he calmed down, he opened his eyes, crimson red as blood. Since Gerald had already infused his brain with standard English vocabulary, he could already speak. Drawing air into his lungs, he opened his mouth, moved his tongue about as if to feel his mouth, and then, spoke.

"...am I... alive?" a deep, raspy voice came out of the creature.

"Yes!" exclaimed Gerald, "you are very much alive. I am Professor Gerald Robotnik, but you can call me Professor Gerald. I am your creator! I am so happy that you're finally alive!"

"Creator..." muttered the hedgehog, stretching his limbs, a few bones popping around his body as he did so, before standing up shakingly. Gerald thrusted his hand out to help the hedgehog stand. "...who... am I?"

"You're the Ultimate Life Form! I engineered you to be the strongest, fastest, smartest and most resilient of your species! Your purpose in life will be revealed to you soon enough, but it's a good cause," Gerald stated, glancing for a second at Maria.

"A good cause, indeed," Gerald finished.

"Am I called the Ultimate Life Form...?" the hedgehog asked.

"That is your title, what you are. As for your name..."

"Shadow," a girl's voice interrupted them.

The black, red streaked hedgehog's ears stood up, looking at the source of the sound. Out of the corner came a strange girl with blonde hair and light blue dress. She had pure blue eyes, a most beautiful sight, or so the hedgehog thought and felt, due to the rough meanings of the vocabulary he was implanted with.

"His name is Shadow," Maria said, never taking her eyes off his for a moment. "Shadow..." he muttered. Gerald was grinning widely. "Good! Your name is Shadow, then. Shadow The Hedgehog! What a fitting name, thank you, Maria!" he said, patting her head, as she kept staring at the new hedgehog. Then, she suddenly stretched her hand towards Shadow and held it there.

"My name is Maria. Maria Robotnik. I'm his granddaughter. Pleased to meet you, Mr. Shadow!"

Shadow immediately took the cue and took her hand and shook it. "Pleased to meet you, Maria." But as his hands closed in the frail little hand, he felt an intense warmth run throughout his body. Gerald had touched him to help him stand, but this girl caused him something else. Her soft hand felt... inexplicably wonderful to hold. Maria never took her eyes off his, as he did hers. She was feeling the texture of his hands. _Firm, strong, robust. Worthy of the name "Ultimate"._

"Ahem," Gerald began, snapping both of them back to reality. Shadow let go of Maria and shifted his full attention at Gerald, whereas Maria stepped back, yet kept staring at him.

Adult Maria and Sonic saw as the scene unfolded. "This was the moment when Shadow was born... I thought I finally had a new playmate, but... something about him entranced me. It was... ...his eyes... they were so beautiful. As red as a rose." Sonic couldn't hold back his thoughts. "The Shadow I know would cringe at that one," he said, chuckling slightly. "He'd correct you, saying they're as red as blood." Maria nodded, laughing half-heartedly.

"Well, let's see the next event here," Sonic said, and again, the white light engulfed them. When the light subsided, they were in another part of ARK. It seemed like a training and testing facility. Shadow was in what seemed like a treadmill, running at an unnatural speed. He had several wires clinging from his body, which monitored his respiration rate, heartbeats, and the like. Several doctors were huddled close, watching his performance. Gerald was in the back, looking at the performance readouts on a computer screen.

"Amazing! A sustained 125 miles per hour for the last 5 minutes, and he almost hasn't broken a sweat! Shadow, you can stop now!" Gerald called out. Shadow, relieved, jumped off from the treadmill and landed on the floor gracefully, panting slightly. The doctors nodded and mumbled words Shadow didn't understand, as they wrote into their notebooks about his performance. He walked over to Gerald.

"How was it, professor?" Shadow asked. "You've been improving at a geometric rate, my boy. At this rate, you might break the sound barrier on your own! In fact, I think you earned these," Gerald said, reaching under the desk and pulling out what seemed to be a metal shoebox. He thrusted it into Shadow's arms, and received a look of confusion. "What are you waiting for, Shadow? Try them on!" coaxed Gerald. Shadow put the box in the floor and opened it. Inside was the two strangest pair of shoes he had ever seen. Nothing like the delicate girl shoes Maria has, and nothing like the boots and shoes the doctors had. These shoes were white on the front and black on the back, with red soles on each. But the most strangest thing was the yellow underside, which had a set of holes. The red sole extended all the way to the back of the shoe, covering half of the back of it. There were slits in that part, a vent of sorts. Shadow looked at the shoes, then at Gerald, waiting for an explanation. "Air Shoes! They draw their potential out of you. You'll have to learn to skate on your own, though. As soon as you learn, you'll be the fastest thing alive!" Shadow looked at the shoes. He was amazed at how light they were, considering what they did. He tried them on, and noticed the great level of comfort they gave him. He walked around with them, then turned to Gerald, bowing his head.

"Thank you, professor."

"You earned it. Why don't you show them to Maria? I think she's in Hydroponics. Oh, be careful. As soon as you reach a certain speed, the shoes activate. Walk for now."

As they saw Shadow leave, Sonic and Maria exchanged curious glances. "Did he try and use them?" she asked. Sonic shrugged. "Let's follow him. We can hover at any speed."

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Shadow was walking down a long hallway, where occasionally, someone would wave at him. He gave slight nods in acknowledgement as he walked past. But it was getting on his nerves. He wanted to run.

He started to walk faster. So far so good. He started to jog. Nothing yet. Then he tried to run.

A small whine told him the shoes activated. Suddenly, he lost traction, losing his balance as his feet came forward, falling on his back. Hard. Adult Maria flinched at the force of the impact. For a few minutes, he stared at the ceiling, muttering cursing words. He got up again, this time quickly going into running. As soon as the shoes activated, he kept his feet together and balanced himself as the shoes actually kept him going at that speed. But he knew the shoes weren't meant to be used that way. He caught hold of a handlebar and stopped, the shoes shutting off in the process. He then remembered what Gerald said.

"Skate."

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Shadow arrived at Hydroponics, the Air Shoes in his hands, a large area that housed the flora of the colony. It was a recreation of a park, with soil, grass, trees, flowers, and the like. There even was a small waterfall at the end, and a river, which flowed over to a drain which recycled the water and brought it back to the top of the waterfall. At the base of the waterfall was a log, and there was Maria, sitting on it. Shadow made his way to her.

"Maria?"

Startled at first, she turned around and saw her friend. "Haha, Shadow, you scared me! Come sit here with me!" she gleefully said, patting the vacant space beside her. Shadow leaped, doing a perfect somersault, landing by her side. She giggled at this, and glanced at him.

"Shadow, you have a bump in your head."

Adult Maria saw this, and couldn't help but laugh. Shadow's reaction was priceless. Young Maria was concerned, though.

"WHAAAAT!" Shadow screamed, looking at his reflection in the water. There it was, alright. A bump, possibly caused by one of his failed attempts to use the shoes. Then he relaxed. He was the Ultimate Lifeform, after all. That would heal in no time. By the caliber of the crash, it would have split any other person's cranium in half, so he couldn't really complain.

"Fell down trying out the professor's new shoes. He said something about learning to 'skate' so I can use them."

"Skate? That's easy! Follow me!" Maria said, happy that she was going to show her friend something, in exchange for the company he's given her. She leapt from the log into the grass, and ran towards the nearest turbolift, with Shadow following closely behind, the shoes still in his hand. After a few minutes, they arrived at her room. Shadow stayed outside, so Maria had to pull him in.

"No, I'd rather stay outside, thank you," Shadow said nervously.

"Shadow, I trust you with my life. Stop being so childish and come in," Maria replied. She succeeded in dragging Shadow inside.

Adult Maria looked at this scene. "'I trust you with my life'... Does he remember those things? It must be painful..." she said, her head hung. Sonic patted her shoulder in reassurance. "It's okay, Pasto--" "Call me Maria," she interrupted. Sonic looked at her in awe. "You're Shadow's best friend, and you're really close to me now. While we're out of church, you can call me just Maria," she told him. Sonic then shook his head. "Shadow's genes contain half of my genetic code. Might as well call you sister," he added. Maria looked at him with surprise, then understood what he meant. Both smiled, the pressure finally relieved.

"Thank God, I have another cute sister."

An elbow on his gut quickly recovered him from any possible wrong train of thought. "Oww! What was that for!" Sonic wailed.

"Nothing," Maria replied coolly.

----------

Shadow looked nervously from side to side as he was sitting on a chair inside Maria's room. He expected the walls to be pink or something, but found them to be a light blue instead. Everything was neatly organized; even her bed was perfectly fixed. Yet, he felt he didn't belong here. His imbued manners were screaming at him so. He watched Maria as she took out some in-line roller skates and put them on.

"Ok, just watch me skate, and you try it!"

Maria then skated outside, with Shadow following closely behind. She started to skate back and forth in the corridor, as Shadow looked closely at her movements. After a while, Maria stopped in front of him.

"No you try it," Maria said.

Shadow put on his Air Shoes and stood up. He started to pick up speed, and when he felt the vibration and heard the whine, he started to do exactly what Maria did.

_Left... right... left... right..._

Imitating Maria's moves as she skated, he started to let loose and adapt to this running style. He didn't realize he had already exceeded 80 miles per hour. He had already gone around the entire colony when he saw Maria flash past.

_Eh?_

He skidded to a halt just like Maria did, and skated slowly this time. He stopped in front of Maria, a satisfied grin on his face.

"I did it, Maria. Thanks."

Shadow bowed deeply to her, but she did an unexpected thing. She pulled him close and hugged him tightly. Shadow could only blink in surprise as the wonderful feelings overtook him, being so close to Maria.

Sonic laughed at this scene. "You guys looked so cute! And you started to develop such a tight bond from this day forward, it was thought that any one of you would give up their own life for the other."

Adult Maria sighed at this. "Yeah..."

"Next!" chirped Sonic.

----------

Maria and Sonic arrived at a later point in time. This time, Shadow was in Gerald's office, seemingly upset. Shadow had noticed how frail Maria had gotten progressively, and he wanted to know why. And when he found out...

"NIDS? Maria has NIDS?" Shadow blurted out, repeating the same thing Gerald told him. Gerald could only shake his head sadly.

"I'm sorry this is hurtful for you, but I felt I had to tell you, since you're her closest friend, Shadow," Gerald said earnestly, a sad tone on his voice. Shadow couldn't believe this was happening. His best friend, afflicted with a terminal illness. The Neuro-Immunodeficiency Syndrome

"But... professor... isn't there... a cure?" Shadow muttered, afraid of the answer he was going to give. However, his answer gave him hope.

"YOU are the cure, Shadow. That's why you were created," Gerald replied, a smile beginning to show on his elderly face.

"Me? I don't... I don't understand..." Shadow stammered.

"You see," Gerald began, "it may look like we're training you to be a killing machine, but your purpose is far from it. As the Ultimate Lifeform, your antigens are indestructible. They have taken out every single disease we have injected you with, and you never showed any signs of disease. We've even injected you with a massive quantity of AIDS, but your antigens destroyed them almost immediately. So, that last blood sample we took from you was the extraction of those antigens. We're testing them with NIDS viruses, but so far, your antigens aren't mature enough to take them on successfully. That's why we're training you, to shorten the antigen maturing process. We do have to wait a while until your antigens mature, so that we can use a small amount for Maria."

Shadow thought about this, and then spoke. "But, why not inject a large dose of my antigens? Surely, in large numbers, they can overtake the NIDS."

"If we do so, the antigens might actually destroy Maria's organs," Gerald said. "We have to inject her with a little at a time, so her antigens and yours don't fight each other and actually fight the NIDS viruses. But, seeing as we have to use such a short quantity, we have to make sure than even one of your antigens can take out lots of NIDS viruses by itself."

"How long will it be before my antigens are ready, professor?" Shadow asked.

"We don't know, but judging from our tests, it could very well be within this year," Gerald replied.

"And Maria's life expectancy?"

"She was supposed to die last year, but thanks to a certain individual, she's actually fighting for her life, so we estimate 2 more years. By then, she'll be cured," Gerald said with a smile.

"Certain individual?" Now Shadow was confused.

"You, Shadow. You're her best friend. She's never had a real friend up here, and you became hers. Thanks to you, she has a new meaning in life, and she's actually refusing to die. Thank you, Shadow, for helping my granddaughter..." Gerald said, standing up and bowing to Shadow. Shadow shook his head.

"You give me too much credit, professor," Shadow said, bowing back to him.

"Shadow... you deserve far more credit than that..." Adult Maria said.

"Let's go... we're nearing the end of our trip," Sonic said.

----------

When they reappeared, they saw Shadow in the same training facility, but only Gerald was there. It seems that Shadow is only comfortable with Gerald, so the other doctors were watching through cameras and windows overlooking the facility. This time, Shadow walked over to a small bag at a corner of the room, and took out... a Chaos Emerald.

"Gerald actually acquired all 7 Chaos Emeralds. When the accident happened, he jettisoned all of them before he was captured," Sonic explained to Maria.

Shadow held the emerald high up in the air, then threw it up. He pulled his arm back, and grabbed it as it fell down, extending it outward, all in one fluid motion.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" he yelled. Green shockwaves danced around him until he disappeared in a sonic boom. He reappeared on the other side of the room as instantly as he had disappeared. Gerald and the other doctors started clapping.

"You have total control of Chaos energy, Shadow! Maybe this will accelerate your antigen maturing rate!"

"It better, for Maria's sake," Shadow muttered, hoping he was right.

Several sirens cut them off, as the lights started to flash red. A booming, electronic voice invaded the once silent colony.

_"Danger, Danger. Ultimate Lifeform Prototype Biolizard has been activated. One lifeform in the vicinity of the anomaly. Evacuate all civilians from the core, repeat--"_

"What happened!" Gerald screamed, frantically searching his pockets for his commpad. As he found it, he dialed Maria's commpad. She didn't answer. Getting desperate, he dialed again, and no response.

"Maria!" he screamed. This was Shadow's cue. Running towards the bag of the other 6 emeralds, he grabbed them and focused on his green emerald. "CHAOS CONTROL!" he bellowed, willing himself to appear in Maria's room. As he warped, he looked around her room. She wasn't there. Fearing the worst, Shadow willed himself to appear in ARK's core, where the Biolizard was usually kept. There, his fears were made real. The Biolizard, the first prototype of the Ultimate Lifeform series, a highly unstable giant komodo dragon with a life support system strapped on its back, was out of its hyper-compression capsule, and was standing in the waters of the core. In the walkway in front of it, there was a small figure, laying unconscious on the ground.

"MARIA!" Shadow screamed, lunging at full speed towards her. He grabbed her and sped off, leaving her well away from the Biolizard's clutches. But the Biolizard saw this, and fired a laser from its life support system. As the laser crept closer to Maria, Shadow stood in its way, shutting his eyes, and hoping his body would shield it. Instinctively, he called out to the Chaos Emeralds for help. Then he felt an incredible warmth and a release of tension so fast, he shuddered.

_Am I... dead...?_

He opened his eyes, and saw his body enveloped in a white gold aura. His skin had also turned into a white gold color, leaving his red streaks unchanged. He was still standing, and he saw smoke coming from his chest where the laser hit. Apparently, whatever happened to his body made it resilient enough to withstand the laser blast. He also felt extremely lightweight, and stronger than ever. He even felt like he could fly. No sooner than he realized this, he was hovering a few feet from the ground.

The lizard fired another beam at Shadow, but just when it made contact, Shadow batted it back, hitting the creature with its own attack. Howling in pain, the creature's eyes locked onto Shadow as he blasted off at full speed towards it. He lifted a massive paw and stuck Shadow like a fly, sending him crashing towards the floor. Shadow quickly got up and batted away another laser blast, this time, hitting the ceiling above the Biolizard.

The ceiling crumbled, sending tons of heavy steel pummeling towards the Biolizard's life support unit, destroying it in the process. The creature, not able to sustain its own weight anymore due to its loss of power, sunk down to the floor and stood there motionless, taking short, raspy breaths as it rested.

Shadow himself was hyperventilating. Whatever gave him this power, it made sure to suck up the excess energy from his body faster than hell. He limped towards Maria, hoping to see if she was alright, before falling over, totally exhausted and unable to walk further. Shadow reverted to his original self and laid there motionless, just before the rescue team arrived.

----------

"My hero..." Maria breathed.

"Let's continue."

ARK's medical facility was the most advanced in the entire world, and out of it as well. Advanced as they were, they could only wait until Shadow was mature enough to pass his antibodies to Maria. Right now, Shadow was in a bed, with a serum of nutrients attached into his arm. Maria was in the bed across from it, but she was alright. She was sitting in her bed, looking at Shadow's sleeping form. Suddenly, Shadow jerked straight up.

"MARIAAA!"

Grabbing his chest and breathing heavily, it was apparent that either he came from a nightmare, or he became conscious again. Maria jumped from her bed and ran over to Shadow's holding his hand.

"I'm here, Shadow, I'm here... we're fine," Maria told him, stroking his quills. Eventually, Shadow calmed down, only to start crying like a baby. At this moment, Gerald had arrived at the facility, but when he saw the commotion, he decided to stay out for a bit longer, peeking from the corner.

"Ma--maria..." Shadow sniffled. "I-I was... scared... hic... I don't want to lose... you..." With this, Shadow took off the serum from his arm and hugged Maria, not wanting to let go. Maria wrapped her arms around Shadow's waist, holding on tightly as well.

"Oookk... now that was way off character," Sonic said.

Adult Maria ignored him as she beheld the beautiful scene in front of her.

"This was the time when I realized that... I was in love with an experiment," Maria said, watching the two friends hugging each other tightly. "It was wrong, but... there I was. I... I loved him... I love him." Sonic turned towards Maria. She was weeping slightly. He suppressed his urge to put his arm around her. After all, it was his spiritual guide. He had to maintain a certain respect.

"You saved me... I... I love you, Shadow."

Adult Maria was shocked at this. She turned towards child Maria, who has just muttered those words. "I don't recall saying that! How..."

"You memory must have been split. There may be bits and pieces you still can't remember," Sonic explained.

Shadow was equally shocked, as he pulled away, staring at Maria with wide open eyes. She had puffy red eyes, and her milk white cheek was stained with lines of tears. But her smile was still there. That smile... those eyes... those feelings...

"I love you too, Maria," Shadow finally blurted out.

Maria couldn't help but stare as both the hedgehog and the girl kissed lightly on the lips. They stood there for what it seemed forever, but in actuality, was a minute. They broke their kiss and suddenly started stammering, looking at the ground in embarrassment. Gerald saw this, and couldn't help but chuckle. Sonic couldn't help but laugh out loud. Adult Maria simply kept staring at them with keen interest.

----------

Suddenly, the scenery changed. Sonic and Maria were once again in the observation lounge. They were facing the window, where Mobius was at its full glory. Then, something moved. Maria squinted to see better, since the lights inside were too bright for her to see clearly outside. But she saw it. A military shuttle, coming from the planet towards ARK. Tapping into her still developing power, she could make out the letters "G.U.N." on its hull. She turned towards Sonic in horror.

"I... I don't want to see how this day ends," Maria said, somewhat alarmed.

"You have to, if you are to understand Shadow's mood," Sonic said, before disappearing.

"WAIT!" Maria screamed, but he was gone. Suddenly, the scenery changed again. She was once again in hydroponics. Yet, she saw she was invisible. Only her essence was there. She saw the artificial waterfall. Shadow was there, looking at his reflection in the water. Suddenly, child Maria came running towards him.

"Shadow! Bad guys! Grandpa told me to get you and meet him in corridor B12! Maria screamed without taking a breath. Shadow was startled, but he quickly took the instructions. Leaping down from the log, he signaled to Maria.

"Grab onto my back. Watch the quills!"

After successfully grabbing onto Shadow's back, Shadow could feel the light pressure of her two still small breasts on his back. Flustered at first, he shook off the feeling and concentrated. Whatever Maria meant by bad guys, it was sure bad news. He sped off, taking the stairs instead of the turbolift to reach level B.

----------

Gerald was running. He had a bag in his hand which contained 6 of the 7 Chaos Emeralds. The sound of boots clashing into the floor behind him was faintly heard. He was trying to get to observation lab 10, where he had a few hidden escape pods. Just when he got to the B-12 Section of the corridor, he saw Shadow and Maria, leaning against the wall. When they saw him, they got up, ready to run.

"Run to Lab 10! There are escape pods there! Shadow, give me your Emerald!" He said in a hushed tone, then, in a louder tone, he shouted, "Go to level C and use the escape pod in Lab 14!" making sure the sound carried across the corridor. Shadow got the idea, tossed his green Chaos Emerald at Gerald and sped off to lab 10. Gerald ran off to another area with all 7 Emeralds.

"Shadow, where did grandpa go!" Maria said, alarmed and scared. "Your grandfather is diverting those guys' attention. That way, we'll all escape," Shadow explained. "But, what will happen to grandpa!" Maria worriedly asked. "I'm sure he'll be fine," Shadow replied. Then, he heard it.

A gunshot.

Adult Maria gasped as she saw in horror as the GUN troopers had caught up to them. They had hover cycles, which could compensate for Shadow's speed. The shot had nearly missed Maria, but got Shadow in the arm.

"SHADOW!" Maria gasped.

"Those bastards… ugh…! They almost hit you…!" Shadow said through gritted teeth, bearing the pain like a pro. He sped up, losing the cycles. After a few seconds, they reached lab 10, hurried inside, and closed the bulkhead, locking it.

----------

Gerald had thrown the Chaos Emeralds through a waste disposal, setting it to direct dump. Due to the colony's current angle, the emeralds would fall to Earth, scattered. That way, no one would exploit its power for evil. But, as he ran, his body was already getting tired. He slowed down too much, panting and wheezing as a GUN trooper caught up with him and forced him into the ground, chest first.

----------

Maria had reached below her skirt and ripped off a bit of her white underskirt, wrapping Shadow's arm with it. Shadow looked at his arm before Maria covered it. The bullet had gone in and out, but thankfully, didn't break his bone, nor blood vessels. He was very lucky. Maria then stood up and went to the console, pressing a few buttons. An escape pod slid up from the floor. Shadow walked towards it, holding his limp arm. Maria then walked over to him.

"Shadow, will we make it?" Maria asked.

Shadow simply turned to her and kissed her full on the lips. For the first time, Maria experienced the first real feelings of true love, as the kiss deepened. Shadow didn't know what to make of this, he simply felt… at peace, while he was kissing her.

They broke their kiss, looking at each other, breathing heavily.

"We'll make it," Shadow said.

"You first! You're injured," Maria pouted.

"Maria—ahh… alright," Shadow said. He already knew Maria was hard to convince when she had made up her mind. She went to the console while Shadow stepped inside the glass capsule. As she typed a few more commands, the glass capsule sealed, leaving an impatient hedgehog inside, looking nervously at his new, but temporary enclosure. None noticed when the bulkhead was slowly rising, being pried by a lone GUN trooper which was sent to investigate and terminate any escapees. As soon as he had access, he took out his rifle and aimed at Maria's back. Without hesitating to see if it was a harmless little girl, he pulled the trigger.

----------

Shadow was looking at Maria with such tenderness. He felt warm inside the enclosure, but Maria's kiss provided him more warmth than anything in life.

_We're finally going to be alone, together. We're going to enjoy life to the fullest... She'll always be there for me! I'll always be there for you! I love you so much... love... so wonderf--_

His thoughts were interrupted by a muted explosion, and Maria's shirt's sudden color change. A red stain was visible on her back. She jerked upright, but then, started to sway unevenly. Shadow was starting to be overcome by a feeling of dread, which turned to full panic when he saw Maria stagger forward, falling on top of the console. Shadow then looked towards the source of the explosion, a GUN trooper with a smoking rifle in his hands. The bastard looked at Shadow, sneering.

An aura of complete darkness flared up from Shadow, as he had pieced together what had happened. The bastard shot her, and he enjoyed it. He shot his Maria. HIS Maria. His love. His friend. His everything. Directing a murderous glance at the trooper, his dark aura enveloping the capsule, he wordlessly chanted a few words. Suddenly, the trooper was surrounded in the same black aura as Shadow was, but it seemed as if the aura was swallowing him up. The trooper started to shriek in pain as he felt his extremities and his organs disappear. He then started to puke up blood as his intestines dissolved. Once his diaphragm was gone, his eyes started to become bloodshot. Then, it had swallowed his heart. His brain was still alive, and processing every bit of pain it could. Shadow was also feeling the mental screams of the person, and it was driving him insane, and overcome with deadly, dark lust. He wanted to kill. He wanted immediate revenge. This kept going until his brain was gone. Then, his entire body was enveloped in darkness. A few seconds later, the aura dissipated, leaving a soggy mass of bile on the floor.

Shadow's dark aura disappeared. His pupils had grown completely black, but now were back to their original crimson color. He had regained his consciousness, and was now looking at Maria. She had fallen to the floor, and was crawling towards Shadow's capsule. She managed to get to the capsule and press the speaker button.

"S-Shad… dow…." Maria tried to say.

"Maria, let me out of here!" Shadow screamed, knowing that 2 inches of transparent aluminum would not be able to be pierced or disintegrated by anything he had.

"I… can't… too late… 2 minutes… till launch…" She said, the pain apparent in her voice. There was a trail of blood from the console to where she had crawled now.

"MARIAAA!" Shadow screamed, fear overcoming his judgment again. He started to punch at the glass, kick at it, Chaos-Spear it, tried to Chaos Control out of the capsule, but to no avail. All the time, he kept his eyesight on Maria, a puddle of blood forming where her almost limp form laid now.

"I… I don't want… to die…" Maria said, tears flowing out of her eyes, keeping eye contact with Shadow.

"Maria… God, no…" Shadow said, realizing the futility of his situation. He sunk down to his knees, his hands pressed against the glass, his face displaying pure horror. Had he been created out of goodwill to save this girl, which he now loved with all of his heart, only to see her die in front of him? He wondered deeply, as he saw Maria's eyes, clouding up and becoming slightly bloodshot, her blue pupils still locked onto him.

"Shadow…"

"Yes, Maria?" Shadow replied between sobs.

"I… beg of you… please, do it… for them. Make… make the people of the planet happy… make everyone happy…" Maria said, between sobs and pants. Her strength was slowly, but steadily fading away. Shadow felt it, and it only helped to make him despair. He was actually pressing as hard as he could against the glass, in hopes that it would soon break under the pressure. Yet, he heard this, and it made him stop.

Maria was stating her last wish.

…_her… **last… **wish…_

Shadow stared as Maria said these words. He couldn't believe what he was hearing. _Maria was asking for mercy for the very people who slaughtered her?_

"Maria… they… they shot you…!"

"I know… I know... some people are bad, but... not all of them... are like this. There are nice people... caring, loving people on the planet… you have to save them from any danger… saving them… is a good thing…" Maria said, a smile on her face, so sweet, it only made Shadow start crying like a child. _How could she smile…? At a time like this…?_

"Please… do it for them… make everyone happy… this was... your original purpose in life... to give them... life. Give them the chance to be happy... the chance to live life... to its fullest... the same life... which has been denied... to me..." Maria finished, between sobs. Her time was coming. She already was seeing two persons in white robes nearing her, but she ignored them. She kept her eyesight on Shadow.

"Promise me... Shadow... promise me... you'll do it for them... for me..." Maria said, her voice a bit urgent, but definitely weaker.

Shadow took this in. _If Maria wished for this to happen, then, it will be done. I owe her this much, and much more._ Mustering his strength to force his voice past his crying, he spoke.

"I... I promise... Maria... I promise."

Maria reached with her hand to the capsule glass and held it there for a bit. Shadow took his own hand and laid it exactly where her hand was. It moved shadow even more, making him wish he could hold her, at least, one last time. He had hoped for a miracle, that the capsule would open so he could take her with him.

"I... I..." Maria began.

Shadow held his hand there, trying to transmit his warmth over to her. He listened to her.

"I... love you... Shadow... with... all my... heart... body... soul..." Maria said, breaking into tears once more, but her smile still prevailing. Shadow's heart was torn by these words.

"I... love you... too, Maria... more than anything..." Shadow said, all hope leaving him.

_This is it._ "Sayonara... Shadow... the Hedgehog... ai... shiteru..."

Shadow clenched his eyes at these words.

_No, Maria, don't leave me. We can still go to Mobius. We can still live life to its fullest. We can still do it. We can still love each other. We can still go out together. We can still swim together We can even go to the amusement parks, just like you wanted! We can still sleep together. We can still dream like we used to, of newer and prettier things. We still have our lives ahead of us..._

The silence of the radio was getting on Shadow's nerves.

He opened his eyes. Maria's hand was no longer up against the glass.

His eyesight crept down to Maria's lifeless form.

_Her eyes were still open._

_Her hand was by her side._

_Her smile still invaded her lifeless face._

_That angelic smile..._

_...she's..._

"Maria...?" Shadow whispered. No response.

_...it can't be..._

"Maria?" Shadow said, his tone a bit stronger. Maria didn't even budge.

_...our dreams...? ...what about our dreams?_

"Maria, this is not a joke, talk to me."

_...our wishes? Our plans? Our... love...?_

"Maria...? No...! Maria...!" Shadow said in a raised voice, his features more desperate. Nothing.

_...it's all over..._

"No...!"

_...she's..._

"NO, GOD, PLEASE!"

_...no longer..._

Shadow started to bang at the glass with uncanny strength. The capsule vibrated, but didn't budge. The glass was too thick and too resilient a polymer for him to break. "NOO!"

_...here..._

"Maria, PLEASE, don't you DARE leave! I don't know what I'd do without you!"

_...she's..._

"Please, God, NOO! Take me instead! Please! Maria...!"

_Maria's..._

_Maria's dead._

The finality of this thought brought Shadow deep into the realm of madness and darkness.

"MAAAARRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA--"

He couldn't finish his scream, as the capsule suddenly launched into the escape tube into space. The sudden lurch knocked Shadow unconscious, as the capsule made its way down to the planet. As it endured reentry, the contents inside were preserved, thanks to the heat-reflecting qualities of the polymer the glass was made of. The person inside would only feel the vibrations, but the air would remain cool. As it broke through the stratosphere, it has slowed down falling directly down to the Earth. As soon as it was only 2,000 feet from the ground, it deployed a parachute, which slowed the suicidal 200 MPH to a mere 30. In a few short minutes, it hit the ground, its landing legs securing the capsule in an upright position. A few minutes later, the glass container opened, and Shadow fell out of the pod, falling face down on the floor.

----------

Shadow had just regained consciousness. He was feeling the grass, different from Hydroponics inside ARK. This grass felt... real. He was on the planet's surface. The air gracing his quills was cool, and the sunlight was bearable. Shadow the rolled over to face the sky.

There was a concussion on Shadow's head, and it was bleeding slightly. But it didn't even hold a match against the amount of tears flowing from Shadow's eyes. His expression was that of sadness, hatred, anger, all in one package. He cried bitterly for hours on end, never moving, wishing the same hand that took his Maria would take him too. Too exhausted to keep going, he fell into a deep slumber. A few hours later, they found him.

----------

As the guards pushed Shadow around Prison Island's cell halls, they were finding new ways to annoy him. But nothing worked. He simply asked if they could shoot him in the head or if they had anything he could stab himself with. As a result, he was given mashed down, bite-sized food, so he wouldn't handle any kitchen utensils.

Suddenly, Shadow heard a familiar groan. It was the Professor's voice.

"Professor!" Shadow called out.

"Who? Shadow? Is that you, Shadow?" came the reply. It IS the Professor.

"Yes. It's me. I'm sorry," Shadow said, his voice full of darkness, yet, he managed to express a bit of emotion in the apology. Gerald, having heard the response, felt dread.

"Where's Maria?"

A minute before the reply came.

"They shot her. She's in ARK... dead."

Screams were heard throughout the night on Prison Island, until the night watch knocked Gerald unconscious with his nightstick.

----------

A few months later, shortly after the execution of Professor Gerald, Shadow was scheduled for immediate storage, like the experiment that he was. They all believed he was a weapon, when all he was engineered to be was resilience against any disease, especially NIDS.

Shadow was led to a strange circular room. Several scientists were bustling around, but several guards had their guns at the ready, all aimed at Shadow's head. Shadow wanted to move quickly, so they shot him, but something else told him to stay. They led him to another capsule, only this one was horizontal, bed like. After strapping him on the bed, the glass encircled him again. Suddenly, he felt the temperature dropping.

_Cryostasis..._

His thoughts shifted to Maria, and the promise he made her. Only, the blow on his head made him forget exactly what he promised. He only knew he promised something. But then, he assumed the obvious.

"Maria... for the people of the planet... I promise... I will make them..."

The temperature suddenly became absolute zero. Shadow's resilience couldn't hold that long. As he felt his body freeze, his final thought before his brain froze came out in the most darkest tone possible.

...**_pay!_**

----------

**SONIC MANSION**

**PRESENT DAY**

Adult Maria opened her eyes after that last echo of Shadow's mind. She was once again in the present, in Sonic's bedroom, sitting in the sofa, just like before Sonic had engaged the Time Stones. Sonic was leaning on the far wall of the bedroom, staring at Maria.

"Now you know what Shadow went through," Sonic said in a sullen tone.

Maria was weeping silently, then started to bawl uncontrollably. What she experienced from this new point of view was not a normal martyr situation. It was not a normal sacrifice. It was the worst of the nightmares any demon-oriented mind would think of. The most horrible way that someone could lose their significant other. She hadn't seen it this way, and as such, didn't understand Shadow's overwhelming desire for her not to join the DDTF. She didn't understand when Shadow had developed his demon form, his Ultimate Level 4 form. She thought he had simply become evil, and he was no longer pure. He was simply acting on impulse, protecting what he once had lost so horribly, making sure to pull out all the stops right from before the beginning of the problem, to keep her safe. She was wrong. Terribly wrong.

_He was... scared... and all I did was lash out at him for... for becoming so evil..._

Maria couldn't stop crying. This was too much to bear. She felt so guilty, she couldn't even look at Shadow in the face. She couldn't even look at Sonic, because of shame. She had been insensitive all this time, and now, she finally understood it. But it could very well be too late. Shadow had run away, and no one knew his whereabouts.

"Maria..." Sonic began.

Maria got up, still crying, pushed past Sonic, out the bedroom, down the hallway, barely crashing into Knuckles and Tails, almost stepping on Althea's head when she leaped down the stairs, lunged at the door, pulled it open, and ran outside. She kicked off the floor and shot upwards for a few hundred feet, took a deep breath, reared back, and let out the most powerful scream her frail lungs could let her.

"SHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAADOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWW!"

The scream echoed for miles.

_I want him to hear me. I want to apologize to him. I want to say I'm sorry. I want to love him. I want to go out with him, to the movies, to the amusement park, sleep together, dream together... Shadow... please come back to me..._

"You know, you just scared the eagles with that scream. Not that I care, but I thought you should know," a familiar, dark voice muttered behind her.

Maria turned around and came face to face with Shadow. He had the same bored look on his face, his frown ever present. He had his arms folded across his chest, and seemed annoyed. Yet, Maria saw past this.

_I better start soft._

She thought of what to say. In thinking, it took her a couple of minutes. Eventually, Shadow got tired.

"Are you gonna keep staring at me, or are you gonna tell me something? Because if you aren't, I've got more important things to--"

"...Shadow," Maria interrupted.

"Hmph," was Shadow's reply.

"...I remember, it was me who named you Shadow, when you were first born."

Shadow's tough demeanor softened a bit.

"I was pleased to meet you. Not because of manners. I enjoyed your presence from the very start. I felt such a warmth when I held your hand for the very first time. I've shaken hands with other children that the co-workers sometimes brought up to ARK, but, you caused such a reaction in me... I wanted to be close to you."

Shadow was listening intently. In fact, he had his eyes closed, as if remembering.

"It was me who helped you to understand human emotions. You took off from there. I taught you how to skate. I taught you to be polite, be nice, and be a good sport in games. But you taught me things far more than that," Maria said earnestly.

Shadow's eyes opened, the crimson red orbs locked onto Maria's blue eyes.

"Oh?"

"You taught me to never give up, to believe in myself, to be tough," Maria said, smiling. "You taught me to live life to the fullest... which I intend to do now in this second chance I now have. But most... importantly..."

Maria hovered close to Shadow. This time, he didn't budge. She leaned over, closed the space between her lips and his...

"...you taught me love."

The slightest of kisses. The softest, yet most pleasant of touches between their lips. Shadow didn't know what to make of it, but the wonderful feelings he had once were slowly, but surely returning. In about a minute, Maria pulled back.

"I know your pain now," Maria said.

"What do you know about pain...? You died, end of story. My story continued, but without you. You know nothing of pain," Shadow said, his voice having a hint of a growl.

"...I know I should have been more understanding of what you had to go through. Shadow... I was there again," Maria said. Shadow looked at her, a confused look on his face. "Sonic took me. I saw everything, from your birth, to the point when you were frozen. ...it was different, to see it from a third person's view. It was... unspeakable horror. I'm sorry I had to be the object of your pain. I'm really, really, sorry, Shadow... I should have..."

Maria couldn't hold it any longer. The horrible images returned swiftly, and she began to cry bitterly again. Shadow was puzzled. He couldn't conceive the idea that Maria actually understood, and there she was, crying the same way he did when she had died.

"_I'm sorry! I'm so sorry, Shadow! I wish I would have never been born, that way, you wouldn't have had to suffer that horrible experience of a nightmare! I'm so sorry, Shadow! I'M SORRYYYYY! WAAAAHHH!" _Maria screamed, her hands covering her face as she tried in vain to fight back her tears, but then succumbed to them.

Shadow cringed at this. He had never seen such display of emotion. Suddenly, it was starting to make him feel uneasy. He tried to look away, to stop staring at... at...

_...my Maria... she's crying... because..._

_...because of my pain. Does she feel it? Does she truly understand it...?_

"_PLEASE, Shadow... PLEASE DON'T LEAVE ME, I BEG YOU...! I LOVE YOU TOO MUCH! I SUFFERED IN HEAVEN, NOT HAVING YOU, SHADOW! I BEGGED HIM TO LET ME BE WITH YOU! I'VE RISKED SO MUCH! PLEASE!_ Please..! D-don't... leave...mee...!"

Shadow was shocked. Maria had just blurted out that sentence, just like that.

_She feels it..._

_...don't..._

Shadow started to hover closer to her.

_...don't cry..._

Shadow felt a knot in his neck. He felt his face change. His darkness was melting away.

_...you're gonna make me cry... stop it..._

Shadow was within hugging distance. He took Maria's form into his arms and dragged her close, ignoring that he had her chest pressed against his. He didn't care, he just wanted her to stop crying. But it was too late.

"D-damn it, Maria... why did you... have to make me... sniff"

For the first time in 56 years, Shadow the Hedgehog cried.

Last time, it was a cry of loss.

This time...

...happiness was returning.

"MARIA!" Shadow cried, holding her tight and stroking her hair, taking in her delicious smells of perfume and scented shampoo. He felt her body so close against him. He held her tighter, trying to squeeze the warmth out of her. It was so intoxicating.

"SHADOW!" Maria cried in unison. She felt his hug tighten, and all she could do was hold on for dear life, as if holding on to him was the only way for her to breathe and keep on living.

For several minutes, the couple held each other.

"Maria..." Shadow said, his voice normal again.

"Yes, my Shadow...?" Maria asked breathlessly.

"...I'm lost in the darkness. Will you be my light once more?"

"Of course... and you be my shade from the scorching sun..." Maria said. She looked at his face. Shadow was...

...smiling.

----------

Sonic was watching all of this from a distance. Hedgehog and human were embracing, their souls rediscovering each other, loving each other.

"Well, Shadow... I kept my promise. Enjoy your long lost love. You deserve it... bro," Sonic said, a sad tone in his voice. Sighing heavily, he turned away, going back to the mansion.

----------

END

(A/N: Well... I had this in my mind, so I put it there. Be aware that this is saga 7, so it'll be a while till my story connects with this chapter. Cya ppl. And to those who had to go through Shadow's same predicament, watching as a loved one is killed while you can do nothing , may you find your light.)


End file.
